October 30, 2017

Orange County

Voice of OC: Former Santa Ana Police Chief Paul Walters appointed DA’s investigations chief

Former Santa Ana Police Chief and City Manager Paul M. Walters is the new chief of the Investigations Bureau for the Orange County District Attorney, six months after his predecessor departed with claims he was fired for whistle-blowing.

 

OC Register: Is compassion giving way to anger over homelessness in Southern California?

For Andrea Tabor, running the Neighborhood Watch program at her 332-unit condominium complex means constant vigilance, mostly because of threats — real or otherwise — posed by the area’s homeless.

 

Daily Pilot: Is Prop. 47, which reduced some sentences, partly to blame for more officer-involved shootings? Experts are wary about making that link

Keramet Reiter, a criminology professor at UC Irvine, said there appears to be a more clear connection between crime and issues such as mental health and lack of social services.

 

Daily Pilot: Mesa Water’s bill to repair August pipe breaks and leaks tops $240,000

A spate of 10 main line breaks and leaks over a roughly 48-hour period in late August added up to $240,728 in repair costs for the Mesa Water District.

 

California

Capital & Main: Diane Ravitch: ‘Public Education Is in a fight for survival’

The biggest correlation in education is between poverty and test scores. If you think the test scores are too low, go to the root causes says said Ravitch, research professor at New York University’s Steinhardt School.

 

OC Register: 13 things that could spook Southern California’s economy

Several tax-reform proposals floating around Washington could actually raise taxes for Southern Californians who currently enjoy hefty deductions for outsized state-tax payments and big mortgage-interest expenses. And gruesome unintended consequences are likely with any major tax overhaul.

 

Labor

AFL-CIO: Union-made in American Halloween

If you want your Halloween to be all treats and no tricks, make sure all your candy is union-made in America. The Los Angeles County Federation of Labor's resource site, Labor 411, has a list of union-made candies, as does Union Plus.

 

Capital & Main: Mass firings at Tesla raise labor questions

Why would a corporation setting nearly impossible manufacturing goals suddenly fire hundreds of workers at its one and only automobile plant? Could it be because it wanted to exchange vocally pro-union workers with temps that are cheaper to employ and easier to control?

 

Publication Date: October 30, 2017